Did 2025 mark the end of British parliamentary democracy as we know it? | Andy Beckett

"But this time the evidence of a fundamental shift away from a century-old status quo seems stronger. Familiar landmarks have disappeared: Labour and Tory dominance, two-party electoral contests, the decisive power of a big Westminster majority, the patience voters usually show towards a new government, the predictable pendulum swing between right and left, the red lines between mainstream and extreme politics and even the central role of parliament."

"Our possible next rulers, Reform UK, barely bother with the Commons, ignoring the convention that that is where future prime ministers make their names. The current government, despite a bland, diligent leader and some decent policies, is despised by most voters with an intensity that may be unprecedented. In the online spaces where political opinions are increasingly formed, debatable facts, rumours, myths, outright fictions and raw emotions surge back and forth, erupt into geysers of outrage and then subside into stagnant pools of disillusionment."

British democratic practices appear to be undergoing a fundamental shift away from a century-old status quo. Traditional landmarks such as Labour and Conservative dominance, two-party contests, the decisive effect of large Westminster majorities, voter patience with new governments, predictable ideological swings, and clear boundaries between mainstream and extreme politics have weakened. Reform UK downplays the Commons and future leaders may bypass parliamentary routinities. The current government attracts unusually intense dislike despite moderate leadership and policies. Online forums amplify debatable facts, rumours, myths and raw emotions into episodic outrage and lasting disillusionment. Public confidence in governing institutions and trust in governments and MPs have fallen to historic lows.

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